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Smoke rises during an Israeli attack in eastern Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 13, 2024, as the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas continues.
CNN
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The Biden administration has assessed that Israel has amassed enough troops outside the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip to launch a full-scale invasion within the next few days, but senior U.S. officials say Israel has It is unclear whether a decision has been made. The move is in direct defiance of President Joe Biden, two senior administration officials told CNN.
One of the officials also said that ahead of the possible evacuation of the more than 1 million Gazans currently residing in Rafah, Israel has made adequate preparations, including building infrastructure related to food, sanitation and shelter. He warned me that it wasn’t in order at all.
If Israel were to proceed with a major ground operation against Rafah, it would go against months of warnings from the United States against a full-scale assault on the densely populated city. Biden himself expressed that warning in the clearest terms yet last week, telling CNN’s Erin Burnett that the United States would withhold additional arms exports to Israel.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters at the White House on Monday: “The president has made it clear that we would not supply certain offensive weapons if such an operation were to take place.” ” he said. “That hasn’t happened yet.”
As the war enters its eighth month, U.S. officials question Israel’s stance on the war, including publicly suggesting that it is unlikely to achieve its stated goal of annihilating Hamas and eliminating its leadership. is strengthening.
On Monday, No. 2 at the State Department, Kurt Campbell, said there were clear tensions between the two countries over “what the winning theory is.”
“Sometimes, if you listen closely to Israeli leaders, they talk primarily about some kind of total victory on the battlefield, a complete victory. We don’t believe that,” Campbell said, alluding to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s repeated references to a “total victory.” “We think we need more political solutions. That’s one of the reasons the president’s team has worked so hard on the neighborhood,” Campbell said, adding that the Aspen Institute has He spoke at the NATO Youth Summit, which he co-hosted.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned on Sunday that “plunging headlong into Rafah” could have dire consequences.
“Israel is potentially on track to take over the insurgency, with many armed Hamas remaining,” Blinken said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” If it leaves, it will be filled with chaos and anarchy. “There will be a vacuum that will probably be replenished by Hamas.” ”
And although the United States believes that Israel cannot completely destroy Hamas, the administration believes that Israel has achieved many of its original war objectives. State Department spokesman Matt Miller said last week that Hamas is “significantly deteriorating.”
“We’ve seen their ability to launch attacks like the one they did on Oct. 7 significantly diminished, if not completely eliminated,” he said. “They could not launch an attack of that scale today.”
“Their underground weapons production factories have been evacuated. Most of the battalion leaders in the north and central Gaza have been eliminated. Therefore, Israel has achieved many military objectives,” he continued.
Although it remains unclear whether Hamas officials are present in Rafah, the United States has supported Israel’s mission to exterminate as many senior members as possible, including providing significant intelligence assistance in tracking down figures including Yahya Sinwar. We continue to support them. Leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Biden continues to urge Israel and Hamas to reach a temporary ceasefire and agreement to release hostages, but privately, U.S. officials say they are asking Israel to consider a permanent end to the fighting, according to U.S. officials. They say they have not yet gone so far as to urge them to do so. But the Biden administration’s increased pressure on Israel to start working more seriously on its postwar Gaza plan has so far had little effect.
Israel’s lack of interest in the so-called “next day” plan has frustrated Biden advisers, one senior administration official said, going so far as to say Israel believes the posts. Ta. -War in Gaza is an issue that others should understand.
The official said Israel has not taken a clear position publicly or privately on two key issues: post-war governance and who will oversee security in the area when the war finally ends.
Over the weekend, Blinken publicly called on Israel to get more serious about planning for the post-war Gaza Strip. His involvement so far has been noticeably lacking, Blinken said.
“We’ve spent weeks working on a major plan for security, governance and reconstruction. We’ve never seen it come from Israel,” Blinken said on CBS. Told. “We have been working with Arab countries and other countries on that plan. We need to see that too. We have the same objectives as Israel. We hope that Hamas will again We want to make it impossible to govern Gaza.”
